A key design parameter in portable communication devices is power conservation. Power conservation techniques try to balance the need for conserving battery power with other design parameters. One such design parameter is placement of an emergency call. such as when a user dials “911”. When a portable communication device operable on more than one communication path and one of the communication paths on which the portable communication device is operable is a cellular communication path such as a CDMA 2000communication path, it is generally required that the emergency call be placed on the cellular communication path. This is because cellular networks (such as CDMA networks) have better connectivity to emergency dispatch systems. This requires that, if the portable communication device is operating on the non-cellular communication path, it quickly transition to the cellular communication path to place the emergency call. There is also a need to transition from the non-cellular communication path to the cellular communication path in other situations such as when the edge of the coverage of the non-cellular communication path is reached. Thus, the portable communication device must maintain communication on the cellular communication path, even when communicating on a second communication path which consumes less power. Maintenance of communication on both paths consumes an unacceptable amount of power at the mobile station.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for power conservation which while conserving power utilizing a non-CDMA based communication path, responds quickly to a user's emergency call or idle handoff scenarios, placing the call on the CDMA-based communication path. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.